After reading the claims made by
Burke in, “Terministic Screens,” about how language and word choice directly
shapes our understanding, I can see how some of these principles can be
directly attributed to the claims made by Hum in, “Racialized Gaze as Design,”
in regards to racial attribution. I would like to take the time to take some of
the practical’s that Hum is arguing she has seen happen in race portrayal and
relate them to Burke’s idea of terministic screens. While reflecting on some of
the ways that these texts relate, I found myself wondering a larger question.
Can the idea of terministic screens relate to images? What are we saying about
a situation by what we either choose to highlight or even leave out of our
image?
In her essay, Hum explains that
racial understanding and representation is shaped by our own conceptual
understanding on the world around us (Hum, 210). Hum shows us that a
historically marginalized or misrepresented group receives their own
representation in the public sphere through a series of political, social, and
cultural practices (Hum, 210). These practices lead a direct establishment of a
group as either lesser or hyper realized, in which a stereotype associated with
the group is traditionally highlighted or pointed to. In “Terminisitic
Screens,” Burke provides us with the dramatistic definition of language. Burke
claims that, in nature, dramatistic language is a selection of reality (Burke,
45). In advertisements, images, and other moments of representation of a group,
we see a selection of what is being represented. To Burke, this representation
is the terministic screen. To Hum, this process leads to a possible
marginalization of a group.
Hum recognizes in her piece that
often, a group is hyper represented in an effort to, in turn, stress specific
representation of another entity or social group (Hum, 201). By focuses on
physical characteristics of a minority in imaging, an artist can then contrast
with a realistic translation of another group. This is a selective process that
Burke would point to as terms put together (Burke, 49). This is an idea in
Terministic Screens that specific ideas associate or disassociate principle
ideas. That we, as an audience, take the terms associated and translate them
into a reality. Hum believes that while this highlighting can build up
representation on one group, it leads to a forfeiture of another’s depiction.
In comparing the principle ideas
outlined by Hum and Burke, it is important to consider that Hum illustrates a
situation highly dependent on the idea of racialized gaze, a habit for
perceiving race-related visual phenomena (Hum, 192). The concepts outlined by
Burke are still very applicable in the context of imaging. The main idea that
Burke focuses in on is the idea that we utilize terministic screens, our
representation on an event or idea, to create and showcase our reality to
others (Burke, 46).
In images, Hum takes issue with the
specifics of racialized representation, a reality that an individual has
constructed to advocate their own perceptions. Hum points to the example of the
image, “The Chinese Question,” by Nast (Hum, 200). In this image, Hum explains
that the message encoded in the image is actually progressive, a protection of
the Chinese. It ‘s in the portrayal of Asian man, that Hum sees racialized
gaze. He is physically portrayed in a stereotypical manner. The white woman,
who serves as his protection, is emphasized in comparison to his racialized
portrayal. In this example, Burke would point to the progressive message mixed
with a racialized portrayal. This decision made by Nast shows an acknowledgment
of the understood opinion of the public. Nast leans into this perception and
adds his progressive message. To Burke, terministic screens aren’t an optional
tool, but intrinsically necessary (Burke, 50). We must use these screens in
order to convey our own messaging or ideas.
Burke’s terministics screens are a
principle that isn’t solely related to language. This is a principle that
relates to perception in a larger sense. In imaging, the stylistic choices
point to the use of terministic screens. As Hum views racialized gaze, we can
see how many of the issues and principles she points to are a result of
terministic screens. Whatever is highlighted or even left out of the image, is
a stylistic choice, a result of a larger effort to create a reality or
perception related to terministic screens.
-Kiernan Doyle
Burke, Kenneth. “Terministic Screens.” In Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and Method.
Berkeley: U of California P, 1966. 44-57.
Hum, Sue. “‘Between the Eyes’: The Racialized Gaze as Design.” College English 77.3 (Jan 2015): 191-215.
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